We present a series of overview papers on building secure sensor networks.

SPINS: Security Protocols for Sensor Networks

With SPINS, we propose a suite of security building blocks optimized for resource-constrained environments and wireless communication. SPINS has two secure building blocks: SNEP and uTESLA. SNEP provides the following important baseline security primitives: Data confidentiality, two-party data authentication, and data freshness. A particularly hard problem is to provide efficient broadcast authentication, which is an important mechanism for sensor networks. uTESLA is a new protocol which provides authenticated broadcast for severely resource-constrained environments. We implemented the above protocols, and show that they are practical even on minimal hardware: the performance of the protocol suite easily matches the data rate of our network. Additionally, we demonstrate that the suite can be used for building higher level protocols.

Security and Privacy in Sensor Networks

Sensor networks offer economically viable solutions for a variety of applications. For example, current implementations monitor factory instrumentation, pollution levels, freeway traffic, and the structural integrity of buildings. Sensor networks are key to the creation of smart spaces, which embed information technology in everyday home and work environments. The miniature wireless sensor nodes establish a self-organizing sensor network when dispersed into an environment.

The privacy and security issues posed by sensor networks represent a rich field of research problems. Improving network hardware and software may address many of the issues, but others will require new supporting technologies.

Security in Wireless Sensor Networks

Another general overview article on the security of sensor networks. The article considers security risks of sensor networks, and presents research challenges.

Designing Secure Sensor Networks

Sensor networks are expected to play an essential role in the upcoming age of pervasive computing. Due to their constraints in computation, memory, and power resources, their susceptibility to physical capture, and use of wireless communications, security is a challenge in these networks. The scale of deployments of wireless sensor networks require careful decisions and trade-offs among various security measures. We discuss these issues and consider mechanisms to achieve secure communication in these networks.

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